We put the issue to the five Port Macquarie-Hastings mayoral hopefuls for their thoughts ahead of the July 29 by-election.

Sharon Griffiths

Feedback from the community should support the development of strategies and proposals to improve the Hastings area. 

When decisions are made, council should provide the facts and evidence to show the benefit of proposals.

I believe awareness of a proposal should be available to the community as early as possible. 

This would provide the community the ability to provide feedback and assist council to make informed decisions. 

It’s important policies and committees are reviewed from time to time to ensure council delivers the best for our community and provides guidance for future projects. 

A review of meeting procedures was undertaken and my position was that a document should be made public to allow all community members to participate and provide feedback before decisions are taken. 

A recent example of council not being transparent was the Tuffins Lane decision, which was clearly not acceptable. 

The community is expecting and entitled to receive information which shows how their money is being spent and aligns with community priorities.

The Hastings area deserves transparency. 

Lisa Intemann

Council is, to the extent that it can be, already very transparent in its decisions and dealings.

Some things can’t be made public, like sensitive personal details, staff matters and commercial-in-confidence information.

And some things are just better dealt with in private, such as legal or insurance issues and awarding tenders, any of which could get council into legal difficulties if made public – just as with businesses.

Beyond that, council is very public about its decisions and the reports it produces.

On a daily basis it provides information on request from residents, unless the requests are repetitive or vexatious - because there has to be a limit or there’d never be any work done.

People have enormous opportunities not only to know what council is doing but to actively contribute to its business, and I think we already have a pretty good balance between transparency and practicality.

If you have a question for council, then ask. You should expect a reasonable answer in a reasonable time, and if not then contact your councillors or make a complaint.

Lauren Edwards

A very worrying example of a real lack of transparency has come to my attention in recent weeks and concerns an amendment made to our Local Environment Plan (LEP) back in 2015.

The amendment allowed for extractive industry (mining) on rural and state forest zoned land where it was previously not permissible.  

The community consultation that should have taken place was reported as nil by those who find themselves now living closest to a newly approved extractive industry site.

Furthermore, documentation our council provided to NSW planning suggested the amendment was low impact and that a 14-day exhibition period was sufficient.

More alarming, is the fact that these amendments were lumped together with some very minor and unrelated changes, where altogether, they were called “housekeeping”.

So, unless you made sure to read about every DA listed that fortnight, and even then, you’d have to have been very interested in “housekeeping” to find the obscured detail of a significant planning amendment.  

If council will not communicate to and consult with the community properly, any wonder the community feel there is a lack of transparency.

Peta Pinson

I believe transparency in council is important because it leads to accountability.

All financial information and decisions of council should be in an easy to find and easy to read format on council’s website. 

I believe that council’s website is difficult to navigate and this makes it difficult for people to understand exactly what is really happening within council. 

The information that council has belongs to the community.

If the community is able to see clearly how council is spending the money it then gives them the ability to hold the elected councillors accountable for the performance of the council.

The community is more likely to have confidence in council if they see decisions being made in a transparent and accountable way in open council meetings and not behind closed doors. 

In this upcoming by-election I am offering the ratepayers and residents of the Port Macquarie-Hastings region a mayor who is committed to giving our community an honest and transparent council and which is accountable for its future decisions.

Rob Turner

The reason residents are demanding more transparency from council is simple: we haven’t been communicating effectively enough.

I’m determined to change that.

I have long argued with the council’s bureaucracy over the need to be more creative in our use of today’s media channels to connect with the community and get our message across.

It’s true that the sheer scale and nature of council’s activities can make explaining them challenging.

But, council must meet that challenge because the people we represent deserve clear and open dialogue and the chance to have a say in decisions that shape their future.

As mayor, I will take control of the Communications Portfolio and have a comprehensive new communications strategy drawn up for community’s input within three months.

I’ll also work with other councils and state MPs to persuade the Minister for Local Government to change legislation that currently prevents some matters from being discussed in public sessions of council.

Procurement (purchasing) is one area that needs greater transparency.

I’m determined to enhance the community’s confidence in its council through more effective two-way communication.